Remnants vs. Sharks

So far this year it seems the best guarantee of a Remnants
victory is to have the match report written from a guest
contributor, a policy that was implemented successfully
today, with Geoff Hales revealing his hithertoo quite
well known literary talents:

After the dark night of the soul that engulfed him at Selwyn
last night,
your correspondent could see another looming as the Remnants batting
stuttered as the sun went down over Fitz.
But twilight brought relieft: now, read on . . .

The first five balls of the Remnants innings produced drama enough
for a whole match:
a missed catch off Julius Rix resulted in a single and an
injured wicket-keeper, after which
Mark Henare was bowled for a duck.
Julius was dropped twice more before in the first few overs
before he was finally caught for for a rather scratchy 10.
Tom Jordan (17) and Joe White (9) struck a few good blows, but
50/3 after 8 (eight-ball) overs and a longish tail to come had your
President fearing the worst again.
Martin Law, however, held the middle order together for a while,
top-scoring with 24, despite losing Andy Owen when he was
sent back and failed to regain his ground after calling for a single that
Usain Bolt might just about have made with the wind behind him.
When Paul Jordan (6) was dismissed trying a reverse sweep that
he won't want to replay on the video and then Martin played 'round
a straight one, the scene was set for another Remnants defeat.
Or, to put it another way, a scenario was in place for an unlikely
hero or two.

Coming in at 79/6, Russell Woolf gave his first ball an unsophisticated
thump through mid-off for four,
and proceeded to shepherd Dave Green (5) and Adrian Mellish (2*)
while taking the total towards respectability.
None of these occasional batsmen appeared to suffer from over-coaching,
but they pushed and nudged and scrambled singles and,
with the help of 32 extras, got us to the just about defendable total
of 123/8.
Russ finished on 16 not out,
and the under-rated Les Collings was not even called upon.

Dave Green, not suffering from over-coaching.

Your correspondent Geoff Hales and the under-rated (and not
called upon) Les Collings.

The pre-requisite for defending our total was,
of course, a thoroughly mean performance with the ball,
not something that the Remnants can always be relied upon to produce.
Only last night . . . but enough of that - tonight was a different story.
Captain Joe White (2/5) began with a maiden and, bowling fast and
straight, had two batsmen backing away from - and losing - their stumps.
Once Paul Jordan (0/16) had settled on his line, he too was
tidy, and from the other end Tom Jordan (2/8) bowled beautifully,
luring two more batsmen to destruction as they were stumped by 'keeper
Andy Owen.
The bowlers were well-supported by their fielders generally:
extended hands (and feet) made contact with hard-hit shots;
throws were quick and (fairly) accurate;
and people backed up, often without being told!

At 62/5 after 10 overs hope put a cautious head over the parapet of gloom -
and kept it there as Adrian Mellish (1/21), Les Collings (1/12) and
new all-rounder Russell Woolf (1/8) kept control of the match.
By the time the Sharks' target had blown out to
35 needed off the last over, even your correspondent began to think that
victory was more likely than not . . .
and so it proved.
(Not that it was ever in doubt, really - the secret being simply to score
more runs than the opposition, and you'll win every time!)

Mark Henare, inviting a suitably mocking caption that has not yet appeared.